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In the time of shortfall, TN’s granaries a relief

TNN | Apr 6, 2020, 12:09 IST

The Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc across the globe and the nation going through an unprecedented lockdown have got people worried about possible short supply of essential commodities in the weeks to come. Giving credence to these fears, traders are jacking up prices of commodities in many markets anticipating a shortage. Halfway through the 21-day lockdown, prices of pulses and oil have gone up by ₹30-₹50 per kg. Tamil Nadu Foodgrain Merchants’ Association, S P Jeyapragasam said the available stock of dal, sugar, rice and rava in the open market may not last for more than 10 days. But the administration is not unduly worried. The state has enough stocks of essential commodities for supplying through PDS for the next three months. It has also lined up supplies to take care of the future requirement, said state food minister R Kamaraj. With four lakh tonnes of rice, 40,000 tonnes of sugar, 14,000 tonnes of dal and 8,000 tonnes of wheat available with the state civil supplies corporation, there is nothing to worry, said a senior official. Moreover, the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Tamil Nadu region, holds a stock of 24.6 lakh tonnes of food grains, which could take care of six months of PDS supply, said FCI general manager, J S Syju. During the lockdown period, FCI has brought in 10.7 lakh quintals of food grains from Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Another 35 lakh quintals of food grains would be brought into Tamil Nadu in April and all incoming and outgoing trucks used for PDS supply are sanitized and disinfected to ensure safety of workers and beneficiaries, said Syju. The government’s efforts are now on ensuring adequate supplies in the open market, which accounts for about 60% of the total consumption of essential commodities in the state. Agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, agriculture director V Dakshinamoorthy, horticulture director N Subbaiyan and district collectors have been holding a series of interactions with private food processing companies, mill owners and traders in the past few days to streamline supplies in the open market. As a result, 1,900 of the 2,500 rice mills in the state have begun working. About 500 of 800 oil mills, 420 of 500 dal mills and 200 of 350 food processing units have resumed operations apart from 500 of 700 major bread and biscuit making units. As of now, they are running with skeletal strength to ensure supplies for the state, but depending on demand from other states, supplies can be scaled up any time, said Subbaiyan. What stands out perhaps is the village self-sufficiency programme started by the state horticulture department about a year ago. It goes back to the roots and giving a fresh lease of life to Mahatma Gandhi’s Gram Swaraj concept. “In our assessment, about 30% of the 17,800 revenue villages in the state were not cultivating vegetables and fruits a year ago. They were either buying vegetables from other places or villagers were limiting their vegetable consumption. In every revenue village, we started an initiative to grow vegetables in a minimum area of 25 acres and fruits in at least 5 acres. Today, more than 99% of villages in Tamil Nadu are self-sufficient in vegetable production and the balance 150 villages have attained about 50% self-sufficiency,” said Bedi. The state needs and produces about 6,000 tonnes of vegetables per day. While it transports about 2,000 tonnes to other states, it buys about the same quantity of onions and potatoes from other states to balance the supply. Various agencies have pressed into service several thousand mobile vegetable and fruit sales outlets across the state to help farmers reach out to consumers during the lockdown. Unless natural calamities wreak havoc, Tamil Nadu is a surplus state in food grain production too. The state consumes only 70 lakh tonnes of food grains a year, but it produces about 1.15 crore tonnes of food grains annually. The PDS outlets alone supplies about 3.3 lakh tonnes of rice a month. “Interestingly, we do not consume the rice we produce. It goes to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu people prefer consumption of rice varieties grown in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,” said Subbaiyan. The Covid-19 crisis has pushed people into new food habits. People in cities have reduced intake of greens and fresh vegetable and increased consumption of pulses, potatoes and onions. On the other hand, with abundant vegetables at their disposal, villagers have increased their vegetable intake. Despite the viral attack, about 2.5 lakh acres in the state are under active cultivation. Braving shortage of farm workers and fertilizers, people are growing vegetables and fruits. The horticultural department has set a target of covering another 55,000 acres under cultivation this month alone and has issued orders to supply fertilizers through 9,871 outlets.